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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-16893

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is, regarding any impact on Scotland, to the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The Scottish Government has made it clear that this agreement, will not compensate for the damaging impact of the UK leaving the EU. The UK Government’s own modelling suggests that CPTPP membership will result in a mere 0.08% increase in UK GDP. In contrast the Office for Budgetary Responsibility has forecast that Brexit will reduce the UK’s potential growth by 4%.

Whilst there are some welcome gains for Scottish businesses, such as the reduction in high Scotch Whisky tariffs, these must not be at the expense of other sectors vital to our economy.

We have consistently expressed concerns to the UK Government that joining CPTPP could place Scottish producers at a disadvantage by opening the door to cheaper imports produced to lower safety, animal welfare, environmental or labour standards. We are also unclear how the UK Government will protect domestic standards given the arbitration processes of the agreement.

Question reference: S6W-16727

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of delays in ferry replacements on island economies.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific assessment of the impact of delays in ferry replacement on island economies.

The ferries network has seen significant improvements in the last decade a result of the 2013 Ferries Plan. Scottish Government and Transport Scotland are keenly aware of the importance of reliable ferry services upon which our island communities depend. With 6 major vessels currently in construction, and more vessel replacement projects ongoing, the future ferries network will be more reliable and resilient bringing travel to and from the islands communities up to meet their needs.

Question reference: S6W-16105

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any funding that it provides to HIV Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16725

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce regulations to bring the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 into force.

Question reference: S6O-02094

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

Question reference: S6W-15965

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to procure a federated data platform for NHS Scotland.

There are currently no plans to procure a federated data platform for the NHS in Scotland. However, we want to make sure that we have the technology and infrastructure in place to equip health and care professionals to better collect, store and use data.

There are a number of key national developments already underway. This includes the development of National Digital Platform , and its associated National Clinical Data Store which provides the foundation for consistent, access to information. These are being developed in line with the overall ‘Cloud First’ policy, which emphasises the requirement to consider the use of public cloud services first, before other options, when introducing new services or updating existing ones – and we will develop a specific action plan for the use of Cloud technology across health & social care.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for Health and Social Care – ‘greater access, better insight, improved outcomes: a strategy for data-driven care in the digital age’ was published on 22 February 2023. One of the core ambitions of the Data Strategy is to: empower the people of Scotland by giving individuals clear and easy access to, and the ability to manage and contribute to, their own health and social care data where it is safe and appropriate to do so. To achieve this, we will confirm data sources and data sets that are safe to be consistently shared. For individuals, data access will be enabled through the implementation of the Digital Front Door. This will enable individuals to share their health and care information with those involved in their care and support people to self manage.

Question reference: S6W-16010

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of provisions in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 ("the Act") requires Scottish Ministers to publish a national good food nation plan. Work on the first iteration of the plan is currently underway. The Scottish Government expects to publish a draft of the national good food nation plan for consultation in summer 2023. Our intention is that, following completion and analysis of the consultation, the draft plan will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in spring 2024, with the final version of the plan published in late 2024.

In addition, the Act requires that the Scottish Ministers must, when exercising a specified function or a function falling within a specified description, have regard to the national good food nation plan. These specified functions must be set out in secondary legislation. We expect to consult on the proposals for specified functions in 2023, and to lay the relevant secondary legislation in time for it to come in force around the same time as final publication of the national plan.

The Act also requires that relevant authorities (defined in the Act as health boards and local authorities) must produce their own good food nation plans. We expect that relevant authority plans will be published in 2025. This allows time for relevant authorities to have regard to the content of the national plan when preparing their own plans, and to consult on the content.

Question reference: S6W-16009

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the establishment of a Food Commission.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 contains provisions to establish the Scottish Food Commission. Establishing a new public body is complex and it takes time to work through the processes associated with setting up a new body. The Scottish Food Commission’s functions are directly linked to the good food nation plans required by the Good Food Nation Act. We therefore intend to establish it in a similar timeframe to the publication of the final version of the Scottish Government’s first national good food nation plan, which is expected in late 2024. This will allow the Food Commission to take up one of its key tasks, which is to scrutinise and make recommendations in relation to the first national good food nation plan.

Question reference: S6T-01270

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s recent warnings about the potential impact of Highly Protected Marine Areas on the fishing industry.

Question reference: S6W-15476

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to implement and raise awareness of current national guidelines on endometriosis.

Improving access for women to appropriate support, speedy diagnosis and best treatment for endometriosis is one of the priorities set out in the Women’s Health Plan for 2021-24.

The Endometriosis Pathway for Scotland, created by the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme, was approved in January 2023 and has been shared in draft format with NHS Boards. The pathway, which is adapted from NICE guidelines, provides a streamlined, integrated pathway across primary, secondary and tertiary care that aims to provide a holistic approach and timely care for those with endometriosis and endometriosis-like symptoms. The pathway will be uploaded to the Centre for Sustainable Delivery’s (CfSD) website in the near future, at which point it will be formally shared widely across NHS Scotland.

In addition, to improve access to the most accurate and relevant information on endometriosis, we have updated the NHS Inform endometriosis page. This includes a link to the NICE Guidelines, to ensure the public are aware of current national guidelines.